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The Nokia 301 is classic Nokia from top to toe, from its iconic numbered keypad to the immediately recognisable design, but this classically designed feature phone has a few surprises up its sleeve.

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Image conscious

For starters, the Nokia 301 has a 3.2-megapixel camera, with some clever software features.

It has a self-timer for taking pictures of yourself with other people. The camera also has a handy self-portrait feature that uses voice prompts to tell you how to position the phone so your face is properly in the frame.

It can take panoramic photographs, as well – the first time we’ve offered this on a feature phone, as well as sequential shot, which takes 3-5 frames and lets you choose the perfect picture. Both of these last two were inspired by the digital camera lenses on our Lumia smartphones – nice to see the high-end innovation reaching our mobile phones.

When you’ve taken the picture and applied effects from the 5-in-1 camera app, you can share the image on social networks. Or you can send it straight to another person’s phone, using the Slam feature.

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Net value

The Nokia 301 also supports 3.5G Internet and coupled with the Nokia Xpress Browser, benefits from up to 90% data compression, for fast and smooth browsing. It can even stream videos from YouTube, let you download them from the Vuclip app and watch them in portrait or landscape mode.

Facebook, eBuddy, WhatsApp and Twitter are all preloaded to the home screen and the email app supports a lite version of Mail for Exchange for syncing your calendar, contacts and emails.

The design is striking. The Nokia 301 might sport a traditional ‘candybar’ shape, but its inherent colour and clean lines mean it’s ultra-modern at the same time. It comes in yellow, cyan, magenta, white and black varieties and single SIM or dual SIM versions.

Spec-tacular

In terms of the specifications, two more things stand out. It has a terrific battery life – up to 39 days on standby, when using the single SIM version on a 3G network. Then, it supports HD Voice, for much clearer calls when used with an operator network that supports the protocol.

Asked to sum up this new launch, product manager Vivian Chan told Conversations, “The Nokia 301 has all the features you want, with 3.5G performance and it will never let you down.”

The Nokia 301 is planned to roll out next quarter and, excluding local taxes or operator subsidies, it will be priced at about €65.